Are you homeschooling?

[Rebecca]

How old are your children? How long have you been homeschooling? What method do you use? (Do you unschool, use a set curriculum like Waldorf or other, or are you an eclectic mix?) Why did you decide to homeschool? What do you like about homeschooling? What is most difficult for you about homeschooling?

If you're considering homeschooling or have decided to homeschool your child as they grow older, feel free to post questions here to the veteran homeschoolers on this list.

If you've always homeschooled, what did you do with your toddlers and preschoolers for "school?"

[rstump]

We homeschool. My kids are 11, 6,3 & 10 months.

My oldest went to school for 2nd & 3rd but we have homeschooled for everything else.

We have used MANY MANY different curriculum. I would call us eclectic. We do a little of everything now.

To define us exactly.........I would say.......

Classical Christian Online Unschoolers :wave

We enjoy being homeschoolers. It really "fits" our family. My husband works retails so his hours change weekly. It works for our school time to change with his schedule. It has also worked well with my pregnancies. I get very sick and I am basically on bedrest for the whole time. So homeschooling is great because we can take our "summer" or "vacations" when I am really sick.

What we don't like....well probably when our family questions our kids over and over about what they are learning or testing them on silly things. I hate that they don't trust that my kids are learning and growing the way they should.

On one hand they say how wonderful my kids are but then say they question my "teaching" skills. They want to SEE that they are on task.

As far as the little ones....we mostly school when they are sleeping. We don't have many school "hours". We just do a little here and there. All the time.

[greenbeanbanshee]

I always wanted to homeschool my children. That's what I always envisioned when I was younger, before actually having them. But our oldest had such severe behavioral problems and I was pregnant twice in a row. I was overwhelmed. I sent my oldest to public school, a choice I will regret forever. I think that was the breaking point for our family. The thought of "society" having complete input on his days was too much for my tiny brain to comprehend and I just ended up taking him out of public school and instead homeschooling -- what I always wanted anyway.

Today our family life has evolved into a strange sort of rhythm and is not very "structured". And for us, this isn't something we could accomplish with some of us other places for 8 hours a day. My kids learn a lot and they are generally happy -- so am I.

[Maela]

We plan on homeschooling (mostly unschooling really). Right now Dd is only 7 months, but I am really looking forward to it. :D

I might have questions for you veterans later. :)

[Rebecca]

It is great that you know what you'd like to do now. I remember having lots of questions come up when I was trying to figure out how it would all work to homeschool, but I didn't have anyone to ask! All my friends had babies, too! No question is too small and many moms would love the opportunity to share their own experiences.

So, feel free to post away when you're ready! :)

[Denise]

I have an unusual situation with a GREAT outcome to help ease the minds of those schooling at home.
My oldest daughter went to Kindergarten for 1/2 year before we started homeschooling. I have a degree in Elementary Education, taught preschool for 10 years and tutored on the side so I felt very comfortable about being able to teach my children. The first few years went O.K. I taught her what she was interested in, we went to the library ALL the time. Actually, she taught herself to read. I remember thinking, "How does she know this?" It still perplexes me even after my 2nd child did the same thing! :D
Then around 3rd grade it hit. We had butted heads some in the first few years BUT nothing like this. She didn't want to school, ie any "formal" looking school books. EEK what was I going to do?? Talk about fears coming up - BIG TIME! I started researching unschooling, did a LOT of One Brain defusions, and realized that when she was ready, she would catch up with her peers in no time. About 5th grade, she started asking about going to public school. We did a test and was surprised that she was doing as well, if not better, than her peers nation-wide. I'm not sure how because we had been unschooling for 2 years. During her '6th' grade year of unschooling, she decided that she definately wanted to go to public school and began to learn from formal text books again. (She still was VERY independent from mom and didn't ask for much help, nor did we do any "testing"). She didn't want to test to see where to put her when she entered school in the 7th grade so we all agreed to put her in the average classes and move her up if needed. Well, 6 months later she was in the above average classes. Now, she just finished her 8th grade year and received 3rd in her whole class of almost 300 on the English part of her ISTEP! This is a child who has never really 'studied' the parts of speech! (She is a very strong reader!) She has decided to take all the honor classes in high school!
Child #2 was unschooled from the beginning and wanted to enter public school at the same time her sister did. The school insisted that she be tested and because she wasn't really strong in her multiplication facts (and a few other reasons) we decided to put her in the 3rd grade. Now she is going into 5th grade and is an A/B student who is in an advanced math class. So she, like her sister, not only caught up with her peers, but exceeded them because of her desire to learn.
I always said when unschooling, As long as my kids love to learn, then I'm doing my job. I don't care WHAT they learn, as long as they are learning. A motivated child is going to learn. I sure wish the schools could see how harmful it is to force a child to 'stay in the box' and learn what the school thinks is 'important'.
I have told you my story in hopes that when you are having a difficult day and butting heads with your children, you will see that everything will be alright. Your relationship with your child is MUCH more important than what you are trying to teach them at that moment. They will get it when they are ready to get it, when it become important to them.
Good Luck and keep following the Consciously Parenting Model. It works and will help your relationship with yourself, your children, your family, and your friends. :)

[Teresa]

Thanks for your post Denise! We are in the midst of making our decision about school for 6 weeks from now. We have had all 3 of our children in a really wonderful public school that has been super supportive of our parenting approach, have done special teacher selection and set up 504 programs for our 2 adopted sons. We could not have asked for more from a public school and have been pretty happy. Then two weeks ago someone called and told us to check out a new school opening in September called Innovations Academy (www.innovationsacademy.com). We looked through the website and it's links and went to an information session on Saturday and it seems like quite an incredible program that they are putting together. We still have hesitations because we're not sure how our 9 year old would do without the structure that his current school has - he is one that needs a predictable routine and strugles a lot with transition so we just don't know if it would be a good fit for him. We are also concerned about the 20:1 ratio and is that a low enough ratio in that kind of program to really meet our son's needs. He really likes to part about not having any homework - ever again AND there is a skate park inside the building where the school will be housed. Anyway, your post was reassuring. I would be interested in feedback from the Innovations website if you or anyone else is interested in taking a look and maybe letting me know of any questions you would suggest I ask before moving my kids (which will be a huge and difficult transition in itself).

Thanks!
Teresa

[Rebecca]

The school looks really great! I'd love to send my child there!

But what really matters is how you feel. When you're quiet, ask yourself how you feel about this environment for your children. You know them best. As questions arise or you wonder how a situation would be handled, call them and talk to someone. That will give you a great indication of what you can expect once the doors open for the school year. Trust your instincts. When you feel sure about a decision, you'll be able to help support your children through whatever transition is going to happen- whether that is returning to their old school or moving to the new environment. Talk to your children and involve them in the decision. Create an open discussion so that you can hear and understand their fears and concerns. But ultimately, you're the parent and you need to decide what will work the best for your child. If you end up going with their second (or last) choice, you'll have a good understanding of their fears and concerns and will be able to support them through it. Keep the lines of communication open. I know you'll make a great decision for your family. Let us know what you decide and how it all goes!

[Denise]

Teresa, I think this looks like an interesting school also.
I also agree that you know your children best. I would explore the option with them and allow them to help make the decision. After all, they are the ones who would be going there for their education. Sometimes, you can get a better feel for the teachers and school by a visit.
Let us know what you decide!

[Teresa]

Thanks Rebecca and Denise. Following or even recognizing my own instincts has been one of my biggest struggles but something I am learning to do. Unfortunately, my 9 and 7 year old boys are dysregulated so much of the time it makes for a lot of indecisiveness or frequently changing minds so I realize that I will have to make the decision and be prepared to handle the outcome of that as it changes from day to day (or minute to minute). I find that I'm also struggling with the fact that this is their first year, they didn't get a grant from the Walton Foundation that they were counting on for substantial start-up funds and I'm not sure that I want to put our family into the experimental stages of the school. At the same time, I love the philosophies and efforts they are making and can see myself jumping in and getting really involved and active and making the best of what will naturally be a challenging first year. I guess I'm as indecisive as the boys. Rebecca, I'll take your advice and will FIND or create that quiet place (I haven't done well in doing this for a few weeks and have gotten caught back up in the daily auto-pilot routine and I really feel the difference and see myself getting much more emotionally out of balance because of that). There's a lot of fear for me, very close to the surface with having taken my daughter to my parents for the summer and trying to focus on making some progress with the boys in the next several weeks. Lots of emotions that I need to work through but burrying them in the stack of other issues to decide on - like school choices. Sorry, getting off topic here. I'll let you know what we end up deciding. Thanks for your input!

Teresa

[jen0608]

No one in our family had a home schooling...I think I prefer to go to school and socialized with other people...that way you can practice how to deal with different kind of people and avoid insecurity...which is important in finding job...